On May 9, Apex Legends’ season 17, “Arsenal,” begins, bringing with it a new character and a redesigned map. Ballistic, the new hero, is already known to fans, but they do not know his skills or the broader gameplay changes that support them. It also looks nice – with one big point of interest worth exploring for Easter eggs if you don’t get shot at.
Here’s everything that was confirmed in season 17’s first gameplay reveal – a lot of it was already leaked by the usual data miners. Ballistic is a big part of what’s coming to the free-to-play, hero shooter/battle royale, but there’s more to come than just a new face.
Who is Apex Legends’ new character for Season 17?
Previously, August Montgomery “Ballistic” Brinkman was introduced in a lore trailer on April 24 and in a launch trailer on April 26. Two weeks ago, a media/influencer preview revealed Ballistic’s backstory, as a flamboyantly lethal killer in Thunderdome Games (the Apex Games’ forerunner). However, we haven’t heard anything about the gameplay characteristics of the 24th Legend – at least not officially. Here they are:
- Passive: Ballistic carries a Sling, which is equivalent to a third weapon slot. As for the restriction, this gun cannot have any attachments; as for the bonus, well, that’s tied to his Ultimate.
- Tactical: This is called The Whistler, and it’s both simple (a bullet that tracks an enemy after locking on) and complicated (all the stuff that happens after that). In the event that The Whistler strikes its target, they won’t suffer damage per se, but they will suffer a debuff that causes their weapon to overheat the more it is fired. They take damage if it overheats and blows up. Furthermore, if The Whistler misses, it leaves behind an area of effect where anyone entering it will have their weapons overheated.
- Ultimate: The Tempest increases Ballistic’s ammunition capacity, reload times, and movement speed, making him a one-man arsenal (hence Season 17’s nickname). How about the Sling? Gold weapons are available, so there are some interesting decisions to make.
As an Assault class legend, Ballistic will have the Assault perks as a result of Apex Legends’ class revamp (in lieu of a new character). These are:
- Access gear and attachments that fit your current loadout by opening a secret compartment within a red Weapon Supply Bin
- The Assault Legends can carry an extra stack of ammunition per inventory slot
- Ballistic should be an extremely dynamic character in the hands of those who enjoy running and gunning.
How does the new Apex Legends Season 17 map look?
Respawn developers focused on larger, structural changes to the battle royale’s gameplay in season 16, so players do not expect a new map every season. They’re delivering both a new hero and a new map in season 17.
World’s Edge, the game’s second battle royale map (introduced in season 3, during the game’s first year), last got an update in season 10 (August 2021). A resource-extraction colony on the planet Talus, World’s Edge is riven by violent volcanic eruptions.
Terraforming there tried to cool World’s Edge’s lava flows in order to allow mining, but a malfunction in one of the control towers left it a ghost town with many ruined buildings – a perfect place for the Apex Games.
It seems that the lava flows have cooled on their own, although not entirely, allowing some additions and changes while preserving what fans love about World’s Edge. Let’s start with a couple of new points of interest.
In World’s Edge, the biggest change by far will be the addition of Monument, which is a revitalized version of Fragment East. A glass-ceilinged Museum houses the history of the Apex Games at the center of Monument, underneath that rocket-like structure that looks like, well, a monument. Although there are quick-access sniper positions at the top of the Monument, the Museum is essentially a bunker POI. In addition, the bunker’s glass ceiling (basically the Monument’s floor) will allow players to peer inside, both to see what’s inside, and probably to find out who fled down there, ostensibly for their safety.
The building under construction, with zip lines at both ends, is the new landmark that replaces Lava City in the southeast corner of the map. Taking inspiration from that red building, Lava City offers a lot of vertical gameplay and several interconnected rooftops.
When will Apex Legends Season 17 begin and end?
Season 17 of Apex Legends, “Arsenal,” launches at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 9. There has been no end date announced (probably because that would prematurely announce the start of season 17), but the May season of Apex Legends usually ends in August.
